House and Senate panels are gearing up to consider legislation that could influence the modernization of the nation's air traffic control system and authorize future funding for the FAA's research and development activities. The House Science Committee likely will hold hearings on FAA authorization legislation sometime in March, according to a committee spokeswoman.
With its envelope expansion tests completed, the first completely upgraded Marine Corps AH-1Z Super Cobra helicopter is engaged in external stores jettison testing at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. For the tests, a variety of equipment is attached to the helicopter's hard points and dropped in flight, including 2.75-inch rocket packs, auxiliary fuel tanks and dummy Hellfire and Sidewinder missiles.
Two U.S. Air Force satellites are slated to launch Jan. 29 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on a Boeing Delta II rocket. The booster is carrying GPS IIR-8, which will replace SVN-22 in the Global Positioning System satellite constellation, and XSS-10, an Air Force Research Laboratory experimental microsatellite. XSS-10 is to test autonomous and manual control of the satellite, performa autonomous navigation and visually inspect the Delta II's second stage, according to Boeing.
Astrium will design and build the Venus Express spacecraft for the European Space Agency (ESA) under an 82.4 million euro ($90.6 million) contract, the company said Jan. 28. Venus Express, which would be the first European spacecraft to visit Venus, is scheduled to launch in November 2005 from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The program has cut costs by reusing the design of the Mars Express spacecraft and spare instruments from that program and the Rosetta spacecraft.
NEW DELHI - Antrix Corp., the marketing arm of the Indian Space and Research Organization (ISRO), has signed an agreement with Nanyang Technology University of Singapore to launch a microsatellite. The university's remote sensing satellite is to be launched in 2006 aboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.
Lockheed Martin has completed two out of three planned demonstrations in which it has extended the effective range of the Navy's Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) system by sending data through a Milstar satellite. CEC is a distributed sensor network that links shipborne, airborne and land-based radars to allow multiple ships and aircraft to track and share information on aircraft and missile threats (DAILY, May 31, 2002).
PRAGUE - Nearly 40 percent of the Czech air force's 13,000 staff are to be dismissed over the next few years as part of wide-ranging army reforms, according to air force commander Jan Vachek. The 5,000 job losses, which will be phased in between 2003 and 2006, will include civilian posts and ground personnel. Pilots are not expected to be affected.
Northrop Grumman Corp. has won an $8 million contract that could grow to over $100 million to quickly install a new infrared countermeasures system (IRCM) on U.S. Special Operations Command MH-53 helicopters. "This contract will meet U.S. Special Operation Command's urgent requirement to install as many systems as soon as possible to protect the war fighter," the Department of Defense said in announcing the contract on Jan. 24.
Boeing's recent agreement with Italian aerospace and defense giant Finmeccanica may be another way the company is hoping to drive a wedge between European companies and rival aircraft maker Airbus Industrie, according to a U.S. aircraft analyst.
The Air Force is considering privatizing the job of visually inspecting and processing excess weapons platform parts being resold under the $12 billion Foreign Military Sales (FMS) system. The Air Force Security Assistance Center (AFSAC) at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is studying the market for a possible support deal, contracting officer Debbie Bucher said. Her office is soliciting interested small and disadvantaged businesses for the potential contract.
Raytheon Co. will continue to explore small acquisition possibilities in 2003 to improve its offerings in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) technologies and other areas, Raytheon Chairman and CEO Daniel Burnham said Jan. 27. "They have to be technology-rich [and] defense-related. They have to bolt on to capabilities we already have, be easy to digest and don't upset the balance sheet," Burnham told executives and analysts at the 10th Annual Bear Stearns Aerospace and Defense conference in New York.
MOSCOW - Russia has proposed building a reusable spacecraft to serve as a cargo vehicle and crew return ship for the International Space Station. The proposed vehicle was discussed during a Russian-European Space Agency workshop held here last week. The spacecraft should be launched from ESA's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, and could cut delivery costs to the station to as little as $5,000 per kilogram ($2,300 per pound), officials said.
European electronics giant Sagem said Jan. 27 that the French military's next tactical unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has had successful first trial flights. The System de Drone Tactique Intermediare (SDTI) is adapted from the Sagem Sperwer UAV, which already is in use by the Dutch, Danish and Swedish militaries. Sweden refers to the Sperwer drone as the UGGLAN.
GMD RADAR: The Missile Defense Agency Jan. 27 awarded a $747.5 million contract modification to the Boeing Co. to finish developing a sea-based X-band radar that will support the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system. Raytheon Electronic Systems, a major subcontractor, will do much of the work. MDA hopes to have the radar ready for use by 2005.
NASA successfully launched its Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) satellite Jan. 25 aboard a Pegasus XL rocket, the aerospace agency announced Jan. 27. SORCE will study the sun's influence on the Earth, measuring how it affects the ozone layer, atmospheric circulation, clouds, and oceans. SORCE's four instruments will begin calibration and data collection roughly three weeks after launch, according to NASA.
The House Science Committee and the Senate Commerce Committee are planning hearings to help them write NASA authorization legislation this year. The Science Committee expects to hear from John Marburger, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), on Feb. 13 and from NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe on Feb. 27. Marburger and O'Keefe are scheduled to discuss the Bush Administration's fiscal 2004 budget request, due Feb. 3.
LONDON - The United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (MOD) has awarded BAE Systems a 150 million pound ($240 million) follow-on contract to continue modernizing and sustaining the U.K.'s Joint Force Harrier (JFH) fleet. Mission system enhancements for the GR.7 ground-attack aircraft, to meet GR.9 standards, mainly will include software development and the flight testing of new and updated digital avionics.
Legislation designed to spur the development of new commercial space launch vehicles could get another chance in the new 108th Congress. Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), who introduced the bill in the last Congress, is considering offering similar legislation this year, a spokeswoman for the congressman said Jan. 27.
FIRST SECRETARY: President Bush swore in Tom Ridge as the first secretary of the Department of Homeland Security on Jan. 24, the day the department began operations. More than 170,000 employees will work for the department. "We've learned that vast oceans no longer protect us from the dangers of a new era," Bush said.
Despite a good performance from its Electronic Systems and C4I Systems businesses, Raytheon Co. posted a net loss of $15 million for the fourth quarter of 2002. Contributing to the loss was $175 million pre-tax charge taken for the company's investment in Space Imaging, Inc., a provider of space imagery and aerial photography. Net sales for the fourth quarter totaled $4.7 billion, compared with $4.4 billion a year ago. For the year, sales totaled $16.8 billion, compared with $16 billion in 2001.
